SHOALWATER BAY, Queensland: In a spotless kitchen tucked away in a military camp in Queensland, Australia, a handful of chefs busy themselves preparing dinner for the night.
At one end, chicken wings coated in batter are dropped into deep fryers; at another, vegetables stir-fried and sambal prepared.
It culminates in nasi lemak – but this is no ordinary incarnation of the rice dish.
A specialty of junior sous chef Bee Bee Jan Abdul Kadir, it comes with tomatoes on top of the usual cucumbers, and a "totally different" sambal paste made from a secret recipe of hers.
Soldiers here in the camp, in particular those from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), call it "Wallaby nasi lemak", Madam Bee Bee told reporters on Monday (Nov 11) evening.
And it's just one of a bevy of offerings whipped up by chefs from SATS Food Services at the new Camp Tilpal set up in an expanded portion of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area.
The camp can accommodate 2,000 people, and hosts the SAF, Australian Defence Force and other visiting troops for exercises.
These include Exercise Wallaby, the SAF’s largest overseas exercise which runs for nine weeks.
The final phase, known as Exercise Trident, is a bilateral military exercise between Singapore and Australia conducted between Nov 6 and 15 this year.
Bee Bee Jan Abdul Kadir, junior sous chef with SATS, pictured at Camp Tilpal’s dining hall kitchen with the nasi lemak dish served for the night on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
At Camp Tilpal, meals are served four times daily, between 4am to 8pm. Between 500 and 2,000 meals can be served in a day, said Mr Ewan Choo, SATS’ operations head for its Primary Industries Queensland subsidiary.
The kitchen uses about 6,200 kg of seafood, 10,000 kg of poultry and vegetables each and 15,000 kg of fruit throughout the entire period of the military exercise, he added.
A dish being prepared for dinner at the SATS kitchen in Camp Tilpal on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
To pull off the sheer logistics of the task, the SATS team starts planning about three months ahead of Exercise Wallaby, said Mr Choo.
Kitchen staffers are selected and sent for medical check-ups to ensure they are fit. They then prepare ready-to-cook condiments - such as laksa, assam pedas and rendang - to be imported into Australia.
These give soldiers a "home away from home" experience when eating and can boost their morale, said Mr Choo.
It's about making dishes taste like home-cooked food back in Singapore, said Mr Justin Teh, junior sous chef with SATS.
Justin Teh, junior sous chef with SATS at Camp Tilpal’s dining hall on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
To prevent "menu fatigue", the SATS team follows a 15 to 18-day cycle according to the phases of Exercise Wallaby and Exercise Trident, said Mr Choo.
During each cycle, no dishes are repeated.
Chefs have a routine but they are also flexible and open to menu adjustments based on food preferences.
For example, chefs once planned for scrambled eggs in the morning. But after a conversation with soldiers the night before, this was changed to bee hoon soto, a hot soup dish that proved perfect for the cold weather that morning, said Mr Choo.
SAF personnel eating dinner at Camp Tilpal’s dining hall on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
The junior sous chefs CNA spoke to said they also get requests for specific dishes.
Mr Teh's speciality is Western food, pasta in particular, and stepping out of the kitchen usually leads to questions on when he'll be making it next.
For Mdm Bee Bee, who has participated in six editions of Exercise Wallaby, it's not just her famous nasi lemak. The 62-year-old's mee soto and kambing (mutton) soup - lamb soup in Australia - are also fondly received by soldiers, to the point of them penning appreciation letters.
Once, an army officer even bought her a saucepan. "She gave it to me saying: 'You bring back (home) so whenever you cook, you will think of me'," said the chef.
The saucepan has since been well-used and well-loved in Singapore - when Mdm Bee Bee is not filling stomachs and hearts thousands of kilometres away in Australia.
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At one end, chicken wings coated in batter are dropped into deep fryers; at another, vegetables stir-fried and sambal prepared.
It culminates in nasi lemak – but this is no ordinary incarnation of the rice dish.
A specialty of junior sous chef Bee Bee Jan Abdul Kadir, it comes with tomatoes on top of the usual cucumbers, and a "totally different" sambal paste made from a secret recipe of hers.
Soldiers here in the camp, in particular those from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), call it "Wallaby nasi lemak", Madam Bee Bee told reporters on Monday (Nov 11) evening.
And it's just one of a bevy of offerings whipped up by chefs from SATS Food Services at the new Camp Tilpal set up in an expanded portion of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area.
The camp can accommodate 2,000 people, and hosts the SAF, Australian Defence Force and other visiting troops for exercises.
These include Exercise Wallaby, the SAF’s largest overseas exercise which runs for nine weeks.
The final phase, known as Exercise Trident, is a bilateral military exercise between Singapore and Australia conducted between Nov 6 and 15 this year.
Bee Bee Jan Abdul Kadir, junior sous chef with SATS, pictured at Camp Tilpal’s dining hall kitchen with the nasi lemak dish served for the night on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
REPLICATING LOCAL FLAVOURS
At Camp Tilpal, meals are served four times daily, between 4am to 8pm. Between 500 and 2,000 meals can be served in a day, said Mr Ewan Choo, SATS’ operations head for its Primary Industries Queensland subsidiary.
The kitchen uses about 6,200 kg of seafood, 10,000 kg of poultry and vegetables each and 15,000 kg of fruit throughout the entire period of the military exercise, he added.
A dish being prepared for dinner at the SATS kitchen in Camp Tilpal on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
To pull off the sheer logistics of the task, the SATS team starts planning about three months ahead of Exercise Wallaby, said Mr Choo.
Kitchen staffers are selected and sent for medical check-ups to ensure they are fit. They then prepare ready-to-cook condiments - such as laksa, assam pedas and rendang - to be imported into Australia.
These give soldiers a "home away from home" experience when eating and can boost their morale, said Mr Choo.
It's about making dishes taste like home-cooked food back in Singapore, said Mr Justin Teh, junior sous chef with SATS.
Justin Teh, junior sous chef with SATS at Camp Tilpal’s dining hall on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
GIFTS OF APPRECIATION
To prevent "menu fatigue", the SATS team follows a 15 to 18-day cycle according to the phases of Exercise Wallaby and Exercise Trident, said Mr Choo.
During each cycle, no dishes are repeated.
Chefs have a routine but they are also flexible and open to menu adjustments based on food preferences.
For example, chefs once planned for scrambled eggs in the morning. But after a conversation with soldiers the night before, this was changed to bee hoon soto, a hot soup dish that proved perfect for the cold weather that morning, said Mr Choo.
SAF personnel eating dinner at Camp Tilpal’s dining hall on Nov 11, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
The junior sous chefs CNA spoke to said they also get requests for specific dishes.
Mr Teh's speciality is Western food, pasta in particular, and stepping out of the kitchen usually leads to questions on when he'll be making it next.
For Mdm Bee Bee, who has participated in six editions of Exercise Wallaby, it's not just her famous nasi lemak. The 62-year-old's mee soto and kambing (mutton) soup - lamb soup in Australia - are also fondly received by soldiers, to the point of them penning appreciation letters.
Once, an army officer even bought her a saucepan. "She gave it to me saying: 'You bring back (home) so whenever you cook, you will think of me'," said the chef.
The saucepan has since been well-used and well-loved in Singapore - when Mdm Bee Bee is not filling stomachs and hearts thousands of kilometres away in Australia.
Continue reading...